On the road again...

After nearly 3 months, I've made it back home safe and sound. With all my belongings intact except for my treasured passport. I managed to leave it behind in the bathroom of the Miami Airport. Talk about being incredibly bummed. I lost the best souvenir ever as it was nearly full. For those who know me best realize some habits never die. Until I get a new one or it miraculously gets returned, I won't be leaving the country anytime soon. But that's alright, I'm ready and excited to be home. I've come back at the perfect time as winter is over (another one successfully avoided!) and the weather couldn't be better.

My blog has been updated with more photos. They include a few from San Diego and my visit with my friend Gloria, a couple from San Felipe (Baja) a few from San Ignacio (Baja), the cave paintings in the Sierra de la Francisco (Baja), our place in Loreto, a few street scenes of Guanajuato, and a couple from Monte Alban in Oaxaca and a few more from Playa. The videos I took are unfortunately too large to upload. I hope you enjoy them and have had a fun following me around on my latest journey. Until next time!

Your traveling friend,

Laura

Tulum was great. Beautiful beaches, no crowds, low-key and very laidback. The perfect place for an escape from a busy life. If you stay along the beach vs the pueblo then most likely your room or cabana is practically on the water. You wake up and go to sleep with the sound of waves crashing and palm trees swaying. From my bed, I could open my eyes and see the ocean. I was that close. Crazy! In Tulum, there are no highrises, no crowds and often no clothes. It´s a very free-spirited place... The hotel I stayed at sits on a clothing optional beach and though I´ve come across this before in the Canaries it still throws me a bit. But like everything else, it´s all a part of the experience. The place I stayed at billed itself as "rustic chic" (i.e. no electricity). This would´ve been fine but I didn´t anticipate just how hot and humid it would be. My mistake! Should´ve gone with electricity. So, instead of ¨chic¨ I would say it was mostly ¨rustic¨ but the setting was beautiful.

Just down the road a couple kilometers from the cabanas were the Mayan ruins of Tulum. This is probably the most photographed site in Tulum as the beach that sits just below it is Spectacular! I´ll admit, I paid my entrance fee to the ruins but as soon as I caught a glimpse of the water and then the beach well, my tour of the ruins was over. (It actually never started.) I was so drawn ocean side that I couldn´t pull myself away and explore. I was fascinated with the beach and how gorgeous it was. Took lots and lots of pictures which I´ve posted several. And even though I didn´t have my swimsuit with me I made sure to at least put my feet in and it was excellent! I didn´t want to leave but unfortunately nature was calling and it was time to leave.

The next day I took advantage of the relative nearness of Coba & Chichen Itza. I had met Miguel, a taxi driver, earlier who offered to be my driver for a day and take me to these places. It sounded ideal as I wouldn´t have worry about bus schedules, etc and could leave and move on as I pleased. It was perfect and I had an incredible and very full day. He picked me up at 9:30am and we were off to Coba which was about an hour and a half away. An ancient Mayan site noted for its steamy jungle setting. And steamy it was! Once there, I rented a bike to go and see the different groups of buildings which was a great way of doing it. Even though it was really really hot it was fun to be on a bike riding around the grounds. This is where Nohoch Mul is located, the tallest Mayan structure in the Yucatan. 42 meters high. A structure people are still allowed to climb which I thought what the heck "I´m here, I´m dirty, why not?" It was easy and had incredible views. I´ve included a picture or two the pyramid and one of me at the top. I came back to the car, woke Miguel from his nap and we were off then to Chichen Itza. From the outside it looked like I was entering some giant theme park. It was very fancy and figured whatever was beyond it had to be something. And sure enough just past the turnstyle you see El Castillo, a massive pyramid that was in excellent condition. Surely a "Wow" moment. As I made my way around the grounds to the other structures surrounding the pyramid, I couldn´t help but continue to take pictures of it from every angle. (I´m sure they all look the same!) It was that impressive. The other structures too were all very interesting: the huge ball court, the Building of Thousand Pillars, The Observatory, The Nunnery, the Platform of the Skulls, etc. There was so much to see and did my best in the couple hours I spent there. I was glad I had the opportunity to go and see it and was grateful to Miguel for being such a great and patient guy. It was late afternoon at this point and we hadn´t eaten anything and so he took me to the colonial town of Valladolid for a late lunch of arrachara (sp?) which was excellent. Only got a brief glimpse of the town but thought it was an attractive and easy going place. Not many tourists, but from what I understand a good place to make a base to see all the nearby sites. The only thing I didn´t get to experience were the cenotes. I had Miguel take me to one on the way to Coba but I couldn´t justify the cost to enter just to see it. I didn´t want to swim or snorkel in it as most people do when they visit. So, something saved for next time. The remainder of my time in Tulum was spent doing my usual....eating, drinking, hanging at the beach, reading, walking and of course eating some more. Life is Good and now I am officially a Spoiled Brat. Mission accomplished...

Ok, so I´m going to continue to tell you just how fabulous these places are and how well things are going. I hope you don´t get bored with the monotony. I´m still in Isla Mujeres getting in a quick internet session before I catch the ferry back to Cancun and the bus back to Playa del Carmen for the night. I´ve been here the past 3 nights and it´s been excellent! My first impression probably wasn´t so great but it could´ve have been the heat and fatigue I was feeling when I arrived. But slowly but surely the place has been growing on me. And the more time I give it the more I love it. (It´s got a super casual, laidback feel to it. A place to kick off even your flip flops. There doesn´t seem to be anything flashy about it. Just good old fashion fun and relaxation.) The wait to get on the Ferry from Cancun to here was a long one! I had no clear idea on how the line was working and finally approached the Stone family to inquire. Soon enough I learned and luckily was "adopted" by them and thankfully was able to "cut" midway in the outrageous line along with them. They were great people to hang with while waiting the hour and half under the blazing sun to finally get our turn on the ferry. A couple hours later on I.Mujeres I bumped into them on the street in front of a waterfront restaurant and joined them for a couple beers while they had their lunch. If it wasn´t for Laurie & Brad, I´d still be waiting for that god darn ferry! I´ve included pictures of them (with their permission) on the blog. Thanks guys!! My first day I did my usual stroll around checking things out, etc and made my way to North Beach which was fine enough but have to say I still prefer Playa del Carmen´s. It´s mucher bigger and more spectacular I think. How spoiled am I?? I know!! Had a simple and filling lunch from a small locally owned placed where I returned 3 more times for the yummy shrimp tacos. Then I retreated for the night to my very perfect and comfortable room with an awesome view and lots of privacy. It was exactly as the doctored ordered. If I had the time and money I´d stick around much longer. On my second day I was to take a day trip to Isla Contoy, an uninhabited island that is a bird and wildlife sanctuary, but it was too windy and had to wait until the following day. That was fine as there were other things to see and do like visiting the very cool turtle farm where they are breed and after some time released. The beaches where they normally lay their eggs are becoming less and less due to us tourists and so fortunately some good souls are trying to make up for it so they can sustain themselves. I don´t know why but I think they are facinating creatures. I then continued on further south by taxi to the most southern point of the island, Punta Sur, where I found this spot to be more spectacular then popular North Beach. I´ve posted pictures of this area as well and its where I had a Corona in the most scenic and beautiful spot ever. Whoa! Amazing! I would´ve had a 2nd, maybe a 3rd, but somehow I didn´t bring enough money with me. It was either a taxi back or the beer. I chose the taxi (and yes it was only 6 or 7 km and I could´ve walked) but I would´ve never made it back after 3. I probably would´ve fallen into the Carribean instead. And even though I technically didn´t have enough even for the taxi, the driver accepted my last pesos and took me back to Centro anyway. Woohoo! And despite having cut my foot (kinda badly) at Punta Sur and later discovering I locked myself out of my place it didn´t matter as it was still truly a fantastic day! Yesterday, I went on the Isla Contoy trip and that too was incredible. A lovely island mostly in its native state not being over run with a single beach chair, restaurant, you name it. Just loveliness all around from the perfect white sand beach, the palm tress, to the rocky, rougher east side to the mangroves and lagoon. It reminded me somewhat of Whitsunday Island in Australia. Beautiful and incredibly peaceful. And last night another easy evening of dinner (pizza & beer) reading and listening to some awesome music from all around the neighborhood. It was like an added ammenity to my place and I didn´t have to get up and go to it. It came to me! I just laid in bed listening thinking over and over again how lucky I am to be here enjoying all this. And now its Ferry time again. I hope the heck the wait is not so long going back. I´m in Playa del Carmen tonight and tomorrow I´m off to Tulum for the next week. Will continue to keep you posted with pictures and commentary between siestas.

I feel like I´m on a marathon blog session... And now I am in Playa del Carmen. I arrived on Monday flying from Oaxaca and wow are things different here! It´s busy busy as it´s still spring break and it´s Semana Santa, the Easter holiday, celebrated ALL week. Don´t mind the crowds at all. It´s great people watching and soon enough I´ll be in calmer places soon enough anyway. I´v got an apartment that I came across thanks to Julie & Dave in Oaxaca. It belongs to Julie´s sister who rents it out and so I took them up on their offer and have it until Sunday. It´s perfect. 3 blocks from the beach. Spacious, has a kitchen, bath, living area open bedroom along with a big screened in porch on the second floor. Very comfortable and very reasonable. The beach life here couldn´t be better. Everything is so gorgeous and laid back. I´ve been asking myself why I didn´t get here a month ago! I haven´t felt this comfortable anywhere. I´m fortunate that I´ve got 3 weeks to take all this in. I´ve got some great pictures of the beach as well as 5th Ave, the main drag, that I´ll be posting soon. At the last minute I´ve decided to head to Isla Mujeres for a few nights and see what that´s like. I´ve got more time that I´ll be spending in Playa at the tail end of my trip and so still have plenty of opportunity to take it in after only being here a few nights. It should be good and will report on it when I get back. I return to Playa del Carmen on Sunday and then on Monday I´m off to Tulum which is much quieter and calmer. I expect it to be as close to perfection as possible. I´m there 6 nights and will certainly take in the ruins at Tulum as well as visit some other nearby and worthwhile places. Other then spending the past couple days at the beach and being blissfully happy I haven´t accomplished much else. If I do, I will be sure to bring you up to speed. Until then take care and I´ll do my best to bring the sun and heat back to Chicago when I return. Less then 3 weeks now. I can´t believe it. How the time flys! Hasta Luego

Sharon and I arrived in the charming and really lovely colonial town of El Fuerte yesterday afternoon (Feb 23). The jumping off point for the Copper Canyon. We had made the ferry crossing from Baja (La Paz) safely and in style just the day before. I am here taking a physical and mental rest before moving on. Sharon who has been anxious to see the canyon left this morning to get a start on it.

After having spent a few nights in La Paz we took the bus to Todos Santos where stayed 6 days. It was great being back and seeing lots of famaliar places and faces. This for me has to be my most favorite spot in Baja. It´s got a beautiful historic center, great food from fancy fancy restaurants to tasty taco & hot dog stands, and awesome natural beauty. The town of T.S. sits just a couple kms away from the Pacific and is backed up by the Sierra de la Laguna. Its really quite stunning and breathtaking. It´s not surprising then to know it´s home to many North American artists.

With the limited funds and time there was only so much we could take in on this short visit. My first stop was to Caffe Todos Santos for an iced latte. The best anywhere and I mean anywhere. Pricey but worth every peso! I got to see and meet up again with Marc, the owner, who was especially kind this time inviting Sharon and I to stop by for some homemade pizza (which too was awesome) and wine. Marc is passionate about his cooking and his food and it shows. It is the place to stop while visiting. We even got a personal tour of his home in a nearby town to show us the brick oven he´s building to help the restaurants growing demand for its bread . One of the coolest homes I´ve seen.

Besides having coffees, Sharon and I spent several days at the beach (Playa La Posa) whale watching from the shore. I had completely forgotten the possibility of seeing them here and what a show we got each time we went. And all for free. No fees. No guides. We were there for hours and the time just flew. You wouldn´t believe if we told you just how close to shore they were. Maybe 100 yards? Incredible and very moving.

We finally managed to pull ourselves away from the great weather and the whales and head back to La Paz to catch the ferry to Topolobampo. A 5-hour journey that we made in style. It was fancier then we were expecting and very comfortable. The views from the deck were great. I spent my time inside mostly chatting with Daniel, a 26-yr old engineer from Los Mochis who´s English and my Spanish was just enough to have a friendly and extended conversation. By mid trip he had offered us a ride to Los Mochis our destination that evening from his parents who were at the other end waiting for him. We hopped in the back of their pick up and they dropped us off at a hotel in town. The next morning Daniel came by to take us to breakfast, make a quick tour of town in his brother´s lime-green Maverick (which was very cool) and then took us to the bus station. What a great guy.
(Feb 25)
Now after spending a couple very restful days in El Fuerte I am ready to move on to either Urique or Creel. I´m still making up my mind and will decide tonight. Whichever I decide I´m certain it will be breathtaking and eye opening. I´m traveling new ground being on the mainland and am looking forward to all that it will bring. Wish me luck and I´ll be in touch again soon to tell you about the Copper Canyon.